According to “sources”, mysterious though they may be, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom as the Crystal Skull is being prepped for a worldwide premiere at the celebrated Cannes Film Festival. The premiere – if it happens – will precede the film’s official release date of May 22, 2008.

If these sources are not, in fact, cruelly mucking about with our dreams, all of Indy 4’s major players, from Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, to Karen Allen and Harrison Ford, will make their first Jones-related red carpet appearance since the 1989 release of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. There will be no Nazis on the premises.

As the screens go dim at Sundance, the Slamdance crew sweeps the floors after their closing reception, and the projectionists at the Rotterdam prepare to wind up their reels, one may wonder what films to watch for from these three popular film festivals. Having written about many of the films from these fests for the All Movie Guide, I thought it would be fun to pull together a collection of films that piqued my interest. Of course I’ll be the first one to admit that I don’t have the most mainstream tastes when it comes to movies, so the flicks that I single out may not be the ones that will receive the most commercial exposure, and your mileage may vary. If you’ve seen something interesting at one of the fests – by all means feel free to chime in by voicing your picks in the comments section below!

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In addition to an excellent YouTube site where you can see interviews with many of the major players who have films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, the Sundance Channel is celebrating the festival’s history by showcasing at 9PM every night in January, a film that made a name for itself at the event. Click here to find a full schedule where you can catch up with such former festival favorites as The Motorcycle Diaries, The Puffy Chair, Half Nelson, and The Doom Generation.

From Twitch comes our first ever look at footage from Choke, the adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s book, which is premiering at Sundance this week. The clips of the flick are interspersed with a short interview with first-time director Clark Gregg, who’s sure to come under heavy scrutiny from devotees of the source material. Palahniuk fans looking for the grit of David Fincher’s Fight Club will be disappointed, but I think the stark look of Gregg’s movie will work really well with the story. See for yourself after the jump.

Meanwhile, Yahoo has the teaser trailer for JJ Abrams’ Star Trek.

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By Jason Buchanan & Jeremy Wheeler

ADDITIONAL CONVENTION FACTOIDS

– Shawnee Smith (The Blob, Saw) admitted that Diane Lane was originally supposed to play her part in The Stand miniseries, but had to drop out due to a pregnancy.

– In the same panel discussion, she also dropped some interesting knowledge on the inner workings of the Saw filmmaking process, admitting that she only spent a half-day on the set of the first film, while Saw II’s ending was written just one week before filming.

– Fangoria, the world’s longest-running horror magazine, has been in monthly publication since 1979. Since then, they’ve branched into the world of straight-to-video horror (I, Zombie, Lady of the Lake), and into the airwaves with their Sirius satellite show Fangoria Radio, as well as Fangoria TV, which can be accessed online.

INDEPENDENT PRODUCTIONS FEATURED AT THE CON

• Official MySpace Page

• Official Site

• Official Site

• Deadpit.com

• Official Site

• Official Site

• Official Site